Lay people often wonder why folks put multiple large woofers in there cars.
They incorrectly assume that it has to do with the driver's desire to
announce one's pressence 6 blocks away and therefore demonstrates a childish
immaturity on the part of the car owner. I WILL concede that the transfer
function often gives you louder bass in a car than a comparable set of subs
and power in a home system.
HOWEVER, what many people DO NOT understand is that road noise and engine
noise, especially cruising down a freeway, has the unpleasant effect of
droaning out a great deal of bass. It's this drone of tires and engine that
often causes bass to attenuate to the point of complete cancelation!
Therefore, the remedy to this is either forgoing any bass when cruising down
a highway, OR creating a bass system with enough subwoofers and power so
that you can still hear low bass when cruising at these higher speeds.
THAT is why I have two 15" subs and about 1000 watts to drive them. Not to
antagonize my neighbors, but so I can enjoy the full spectrum of frequencies
in my music when driving on the freeway. True, there will always be those
self-centered individuals who will take advantage of their loud cars to try
and impose their music on the world.
But going back to my previous statements in this thread, large woofers and
lots of power to do NOT equall a juvinile mindset. For me, it's simply the
love of the music.
MOSFET
"MOSFET" wrote in message
m...
OK, let me tell you something first before we get into brand names and who
makes the best subwoofer.
I have had, geez I have to think about this, 7 high quality systems in my
car ever since 1991. And by high quality, I mean top-notch gear and
proffesional installation (I used to have all my gear proffesionally
installed until about 8 years ago when I felt like I had learned enough to
do my own).
Anyway, what I learned over the course of these seven vehicles (and of
course, others) is that cabin size is EVERYTHING when you are talking
about bass. Nothing more dramitically brought this point home to me when
I transfered my entire system from a Nissan Stanza to a Subaru Forrester.
Now I had a pair of 12" JL 12W3's in a sealed box in the trunk of my
Stanza and a Soundstream Refference 700 (700 watts RMS) driving them. It
was LOUD!!!!!
When I transferred this to the Subaru I actually thought I would get MORE
bass as the subs would no longer be isolated in a trunk but would be open
to the main cabin, in the rear storage area.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Despite extensive experimenting with
placement, I got NO WHERE NEAR the quantity of bass in the larger Subaru
cabin vs. the much smaller Stanza.
The point I am making is that I have done many installations now for
myself and friends. In a truck cabin (I've done two trucks for friends),
a quality 8" subwoofer with enough power can, indeed, produce prodigous
amounts of bass thanks to the transfer function that is VERY pronounced in
the small cabin of a truck.
HOWEVER, even a very good 8" sub with lots of power in a minivan may leave
you disapointed. Again, I tell you this only because I have experienced
it first-hand. I understand you are not looking for a ground-pounder so
you can be heard coming three blocks away, BUT, my point is that if you
are going to go through all the hassle of installing an amp and subwoofer,
let me suggest you go with larger, or multiple subs. A pair of high
quality 10's would probably do the job nicely or AT LEAST a single 12" sub
(two would be even better). And again, I'm not thinking in terms of
waking your neighbors up, but the fact that the transfer function in a
minivan is NOT going to give your bass much of a boost. Anyway, that's my
$.02 on that matter.
AS far as quality subs, there are many quality sub makers out there these
days. Subwoofers have improved dramatically over the years, and a single
quality sub today can BLOW AWAY two subs of similar size made 10+ years
ago. Motor structures have advanced dramtically in size and cooling
methods have improved incredibly. Cone material is much more advanced
(lighter and stronger) allowing for greater pistonic movement, or Xmax.
Spider material today allows for a longer stroke, yet still keeps the cone
and former in alignment. I could go on, but you get my drift. In fact,
if I had to choose one component of a car audio system that has improved
the most in the last 10 years, I would say subwoofers without a moment's
hesitation (well, OK, the Class D amp certainly improved things for us
all).
MTX makes a really good subwoofer and I would strongly encourage you to
check out and listen to their line. Alpine also makes some outstanding
subwoofers, their Class R subs are truly amazing (and to think, 15 years
ago I scoffed at Japaneese speakers). JL, of course, continues to improve
and produce quality subwoofers as well. Though none of these subs are
exactly cheap, they won't break the bank either. Like anything else, you
get what you pay for but I would be confident that any one of these
manufactureres would produce a quality product, no matter how much you
choose to spend. In a nutshell, I guess these three would be on my
shortlist.
And keep in mind, I'm not saying this because I own them (you find in this
group that when the topic of the "best subs" comes up, coincendentally it
ALWAYS seems that whoever recommends a brand just happens to also use that
brand).
I don't use any of those three (though I did use MTX and JL for many
years, as well as Rockford Fosgate, but lately I have not been all that
impressed with their stuff) right now. I use a pair 15" subs in a sealed
box driven by an Alpine Class D 850 watt RMS amp that some would likely
consider an "off-brand" subwoofer, but I love them to death so there!
Anyway, that's what I have to say on this matter, JL, MTX or Alpine and
you will most likely not be disapointed. AND, I would STRONGLY consider
going bit further than a single 8" sub in a minivan.
MOSFET
"Sharky" wrote in message
news:s7aDl.20825$Db2.9401@edtnps83...
Hi. I've been in and out of the car audio scene over the last few
decades, but lately, have not been keeping up on what is the newest and
greatest. Recently, I was shopping around at Princess Auto and picked up
a very small 8" subwoofer enclosure, probably around 0.35-0.4 cu.ft. in
size. It is very small, but the reason it caught my eye is because I
have been pondering the idea of installing a smaller sub enclosure in my
Toyota Sienna (yes, that's a mini-van, LOL). This box was only $5
including tax, and is already carpeted and pre-wired for one speaker, as
well as a neon-ring connection, if that were so desired (it's not). It
actually isn't built all that bad, not like the foldout build it-yourself
boxes from Wal-mart, but I will take a caulking gun to the joints and
probably add some filler. It suits my needs because of the fact that it
will slide directly under the middle row seat where it is out of harms
way, and means I can still use the rear of the van for my tools and gear
(I leave the two rear seats out all the time), without worrying about
losing storage space or damaging the sub with my construction gear.
Installing under the middle seat will also make it much easier to route
power and RCA leads to the amplifier, because it is closer than
installing all the way to the rear of the van.
I'm looking for some recommendations on a mid to good quality sub that
will suit this box, and still sound somewhat decent. I have an amplifier
that I can use, which is a Pioneer GM 5100T,
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...-5100T.Support ,
currently it is mated to a MA Audio 12" sub that is not being used.
250-300 watts RMS would be more than plenty, but I'd like to stay around
that number in case I do use the Pioneer to power it. The head unit is
an Almani DVT-909, which has subwoofer volume control and crossover
switching built-in. Not a bad unit, but I wish I had researched it a bit
more before purchase. However, it is capable of playing DVDs, and
recordable DVD-/+RW and has two sets of A/V outputs for headrest
monitors, which is something else I may look into down the road.
Any recommendations on a 8" subwoofer that would suit my needs would be
greatly appreciated. BTW, I am not looking to rattle the windows out or
wake up the neighbours. I'd just like to add a bit of punch to my music,
which can vary anywhere from heavy metal, to rock, to rap, and even some
dance music. Also, the install clearance for the box is 4.5", so the sub
cannot have a huge magnet. The van is a family vehicle, mostly on the
weekends, so I can't go too outrageous with my setup.
Thanks in advance,
Sharky